


All That's Dead, and Gone, and Passed

by hookedonbooks22



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fic inspired by a song, Fluff, Future Fic, One Shot, what happens after the end of the book?, with a smidgen of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-13
Updated: 2017-04-13
Packaged: 2018-10-18 13:51:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10618248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hookedonbooks22/pseuds/hookedonbooks22
Summary: They've reached the end of the book and gotten their happy ending, but Emma doesn't know how to not worry about losing it.Inspired by the song "Safe and Sound" by Taylor Swift and The Civil Wars





	

**Author's Note:**

> I was watching The Voice the other day and one of the contestants performed "Safe and Sound" by Taylor Swift and The Civil Wars and I was reminded what a beautiful song it is. So, naturally I listened to it on repeat a few times and ended up getting Captain Swan/end of the book (seriously was anyone prepared for that Isaac/Henry scene at the end of the episode?) feels.

They’ve never slept much, she and Killian.

And tonight is no different.

Even though it should be.

They should be soothed by Henry’s declaration that the book is finished, that they are finally living their happy ending. But, even though they are elated that they had both made it through to the end and the future Killian promised her is finally here, Emma knows something terrible is always brewing outside and that books sometimes have even more action-packed sequels.

At first, those thoughts don’t hit them, only the happiness that comes with the _happily ever after_. So after Henry shuts that worn, brown book of fairytales (not-quite fairytales, she sometimes still has to remind herself, even after everything) that changed her life, she and Killian join hands and stroll home from Granny’s, their wedding rings resting right up against each other.

And when they reach their white picket fenced house, Killian leads her up the stairs and lays her down on their bed after peeling their leather jackets off. Emma pulls him down on top of her into the soft cocoon of the fluffy sea green comforter, she the ship and he the sails leading them right into the beginning of their happy ending.

Finally able to take their time, they make love slowly, the sun casting a sweet, comforting warmth onto their skin through the window Killian always leaves open so he can smell the sea on the breeze.

The setting sun finds them bundled beneath the blankets, completely bare save for the pieces of jewelry they’d exchanged a few days prior. 

She can feel the exhaustion resting between them like a third party to their relationship but they aren’t sleeping.

She is only staring at her husband and he right back at her.

Emma supposes that even though they aren’t sleeping, they are lucky they even get to lie in the same bed together, what with all of the separations they’d endured and she wonders if she should dare to allow herself to get used to it.

The pair doesn’t speak, only lets sky blue fuse into forest green. Emma can see that Killian’s blinks are heavy and she figures hers aren’t much different.

But slumber can’t drag them under. The waiting and the worrying overpower it. 

(Of course her body would only allow her to enjoy that sweet satiation she feels after being with Killian like this for a few moments before a tense awareness starts nudging its way into her belly like the cold water she sips to sober up a little after a few beers.)

She is waiting to hear Leroy’s screeches as he runs down the street, waiting for a villain to pop up out of the woodwork to take their turn at destruction, waiting for someone else to need saving.

And she is worrying the person that needs saving will be Henry or someone else they love, worrying they will be ripped apart again.

Worrying their happy ending will slip right out of their grasp.

She can’t imagine not having a battle to fight tomorrow.

It isn’t like it’s irrational to feel this way. All the hardships they’d faced hardly ever cease to run through the forefront of her mind. 

Watching Killian die in that alternate reality. 

Having to embrace a darkness so slippery it almost caused her to lose sight of who she was. Watching Killian die again and betraying his wishes so she didn’t have to lose him. 

Going to the Underworld to get him back after having to watch him die once more, this time by her own hand. Being forced to leave him there and then losing him to another realm as soon as she got him back. 

And those awful visions of her fate as the savior that almost became her reality. Then two more separations through the Evil Queen’s wish and Gideon’s scheming. 

Can anyone blame her for not feeling secure enough to settle into this happiness? After all she’s been through, can she be blamed for habitually readying herself for the next threat? Especially since the stakes are the highest they’ve ever been, the risks the most toppling?

She knows Killian is feeling all the things she is (she just _knows_ in that _he’s-my-true-love_ way), but as always, he acts as their lighthouse and guides them right back where they need to be.

“Close your eyes, Swan. We can finally rest,” he tells her, his deep timbre vibrating her fingers where they drag against his chest.

“You close your eyes,” Emma fires back at him, with not nearly as much sass as she’d intended to use.

“Are we having a competition to see who can stay awake the longest?” His question comes out like a long sigh. They are both too weary for banter. She gets right down to it.

“How am I supposed to rest when I know this can’t be it? When I know there has to be someone else out there gearing up to take away this happy ending we worked so hard for?”

Killian’s mouth stretches into a sad smile and it takes him a moment to respond, like he wants to word everything perfectly to reassure her (and probably himself).

“You know the thing I said about quiet moments applies to happy endings too. Because, love, even though it’s called an ‘ending’, it’s really just a beginning. So, yes, there are going to be obstacles, whether they’re in the form of villains or moody teenagers, but that’s only because we’re starting a new book. Our own book. How can someone take away our happy ending when it’s already been written?” 

He moves his hand to rest against her cheek. His face looks like it’s rippling with waves through her teary eyes as he continues.

“Just because we’ve made it, doesn’t mean I’ll stop fighting. We made vows at our wedding to never stop fighting. But we need to start living and let the saving and defeating become the moments in between. Let the villains plot and scheme and we’ll worry about them when they get here. When we’re home, it’s just you and me. And the lad every other week, of course.”

Maybe it’s because she already knew these things deep down and she just needed to hear it in his voice but just like magic (which certainly isn’t so unrealistic to her anymore), Emma’s thoughts are calmed. She can actually feel every limb loosen and sink into the mattress as her body relaxes.

A sleepy smile stretches across her face and she leans forward to press it against Killian’s matching one.

“You’re right. You’re always so right it’s almost annoying,” Emma tells him, playfully nudging her nose against his and thinking about, ‘When I win your heart, Emma, and I will win it…’

When she pulls back, she finds herself staring at him again because she doesn’t think he’s ever looked so beautifully content, like the words he’d just spoken to her had sunk straight into his bones like they had with hers, solidifying and reinforcing and protecting. 

Leave it to Killian Jones to make her feel safe only by threading together a few sentences.

Of course, she always feels safe with him. Never even needs the embrace of his arm around her shoulder or the grip of his hand in hers. Emma just needs him to stand right beside her and, now that she thinks about it, sometimes she doesn’t even need that much, his belief in her so strong she feels invincible even when she has to face a foe alone.

“Emma, your eyes are still open,” Killian gently admonishes her.

“So are yours, buddy.” She does want to sleep but she kind of just wants to revel in the warmth of the moment for a while now that she’s getting comfortable. And she knows he won’t fall asleep until she does.

“Shall we go out to the Jolly? Maybe the waves will lull us to sleep,” he suggests. She doesn’t want to leave this house though, remembering what he’d said a few moments ago.

“Hell, no. I’m not leaving this bed,” Emma tells him while snuggling right up against him as close as she can get and pressing her face into his neck in an attempt to get her point across. It makes him chuckle. And that makes her grin.

So they lie like that for a little while, all wrapped up in the other and the silence of the bedroom and the fading sunlight through the window. And just as a yawn begins to overtake her, she hears the first few notes of a melody float over her head.

He’s singing her a lullaby. And it’s so beautiful she has no choice but to close her eyes just to savor it.

It’s something she’s never heard but sounds like something you would learn as a child if you lived on a boat as he did. 

Killian sings about going on a trip and it’s easy for Emma to picture the two of them crossing over the town line in her bug. 

He sings about raising the mainsail and it’s easy for her to picture a family trip out on his ship, everyone’s cheeks reddening in the sun and dimpling with laughter.

He sings about returning to his first love (the sea) and it’s easy for her to picture him returning to her side day after day after day.

When he finishes his song, he says, “I have a pretty good feeling we’ll wake up just like this in the morning,” and she finds it isn’t so hard to picture that happening either. “And I’m usually right, so.”

Killian and Emma fall asleep full of hope and belief in their happy ending and they wake up wrapped in the excitement and security of their happy beginning.

**Author's Note:**

> While this isn't the first fic I've written, it is the first I've felt brave enough to post. So, I'd love feedback! Thanks for reading!
> 
> I'm over on tumblr under the same name (hookedonbooks22)!!


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